Knitting machine



June 9, 1936. H. H. HOLMES KNITTING momma 7 Filed Jan. 5, 1935 5 She ets-Sheet 1 June 9 1936- H, HOLMES I 2,043,852

KNITTING MACHINE Filed Jan. 5, 1935 5 Sheets-SheetZ INVENTOR Filed Jan. 5, 1955 s sheets-sheet 5 INVENTOR MM June 9, 1936.

H. H HQLMES KNITTING MACHINE Filed Jan. 5, 1935 a sums-sheet 4 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 June 9, 1936- H. H. HOLMES N KNITTING MACHINE Filed Jan'. 5, 19:55

' INVENTOR file I Patented June 9, 1936 PATENT OFFICE xm'r'rmc mcnnm Henry Harold Holmes, Leicester, England, assignor to Wildt and Company Limited, Leicester, England, a British company Application January 5, 1935, Serial No. 523 In Great Britain September 20, 1934 8 Claims. (01. 66-25) v This invention consists in improvements in or relating to knitting machines and to fabrics made thereon and is an improvement in or modification of the'invention described or claimed in the specification of British LettersPatent No. 388,829. ,In the aforesaid prior specification a knitting machine having two needle beds was described with long and short butt needles in at least one oi those beds, in combination with a circumferentially adjustable stitch cam for theneedles of at least one bed, and also for the needles of at least one of the beds independent adjustable clearing cams, one of which is operable on all needles and the other of which is operable only on needles of one particular length of butt.

According to the present invention the improvement or modification consists in a knitting machine comprising in combination two needle beds with needles arranged therein for rib knitting, patterning means for knitting patterned rib fabric and an adjustable knitting cam in one or in each of the needle beds, whereby the knockover points of the two cams can be adjusted into and out from coincidence one with the other to enable the knitting to be relatively tightened or loosened as and for a purpose to be described hereinafter. Conveniently, a single adjustable cam is provided in one of the needle beds operative on all the needles.

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood some preferred examples will now be described with the aid of the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 illustrates a development of a portion of the cylinder cam box of a cylinder and dial machine, looking outwardly from the axis of the machine, with a pattern wh'eel located in position beneath it.

1 looking in the direction of the arrows and showing also a portion of the dial needle bed, and the dial cam cap therefor.

Figure 3 is a plan looking from above in Figur 1 indicating the arrangement of dial cams and cylinder and dial cam-operating means for one feed.

Figure 4 is an elevation of the parts shown in Figure 3. I

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a detail of the clearing cam controlling means.

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 1 showing a modified construction, and

Figure 7 is a section on the line 1-1 of Figure a Figure 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Figure.

Like reference numerals indicate like parts in the several figures of the drawings.

The general arrangement and construction of the machine illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 is similar to that described and illustrated in the afore- 5 said prior specification and only those parts necessary to the understanding of the invention are shown- Briefly described, a needle cylinder I0 is surrounded by the usual cam box H and is sur- 10 mounted by a dial needle bed l2 with a dial cap or cam box l3. The cam boxes II and I 3 rotate together with .a lower plate I 4 which surrounds the cylinder and is formed with a driving bevel gear ii to which a main power drive is transl5 mitted. In each needle trick, both in the dial and in the cylinder, is a needle "5 and in the cylinder each needle has an associated sliding jack II the lower portion of which is of a springy nature and tends normally to move outwardly from 20 the needle trick to bring a lower butt I8 over a liftiiig cam I9. The latter also travels in com--' pany with the plate l4.- Associated with each sliding jack I1 is a swinging jack Zllthe function of which is, by selection, to be pressed against the 25 lower extremity of the sliding jack I! to move the lower butt when required out from the path of the cam l9.

The swinging jacks are provided with butts 2| arranged at varying heights according to 30 the pattern required and these butts are engageable by cams 22 all of which are pivotally mounted to swing on a pin 23 carried in a bracket 24. The latter also supports, by means of a spindle 25, a trick wheel 26, in the tricks of which are secured bits 21 that also have butts arranged at difierent heights in accordance with the pattern requirements. The trick wheel 26 is preferably advanced around its axis step by step one or more times in each revolution by any. 40 preferred means. Such means is of common form and is well known so that illustration thereof is unnecessary. On each such step by step advance a different bit 21 is presented to the cams 22 thereby selecting one or more of them accord- 6 ing to the butts provided on the bit 21. In the example illustrated in Figure 2 the bit on the right is shown as having a butt at the level of each cam, whereas that on the left is shown as being devoid of butts entirely. The former will swing of;

all the cams together about their axes 23 and the cams as they come into register successively with the swinging jacks 20 will advance any such jack which has projecting from it a butt 2|. Thus, all the swinging jacks 20 withbutts 2| will 55 be moved so that the butts I8 01 the associated needle jack are clear ofthe cam l8 and none of the associated needles l8 will be raised for the purpose of knitting. On the other hand, the bit such as 21 on the left of the trick wheel will actuate none 01 the cams 22 and consequently none 01 the swinging jacks 20 will be'actuated by the cam, thus permitting the butts I8 of the sliding jacks to be engaged by the cam l9 and the needles will thus be raised in succession until the next movement or the trick wheel around its axis. Any arrangement of butts between the two extremes illustrated in Figure 2 may be employed and thusselection 01' needles to be raised fortaking a yarn at .the ieedassociated with the particular trick wheel in question is under control of that trick wheel.

The trick wheel 28, cams 22, jacks 28 and I! together with cam l9 and the co-operation of these various parts are all well understood and are similar in all essential respects to the mechanism described in prior United States Patent No. 1,867,644 to which reference may be made for a fuller understanding of this part of the mechanism or the present invention.

The trick wheel may thus take the place of the usual clearing cam for the cylinder needles and is selective in its action for patterning purposes; but in the dial a fixed or adjustable clearing cam will be provided, for example an adjustable cam similar in its operation to the cam I88 described in connection with Figure 4 of the specification of prior British Letters Patent NO. 388,829. In place, however, of such a clearingcam the dial may also be furnished with a trick wheel or wheels and when such devices are. employed either for the cylinder or the dial it is to be understood that there will generally be one such wheel for each feed.

In this construction all the needles in both needle beds will have butts or the same length and this is one respect in which the present invention differs from that described in the aforesaid prior British specification No. 388,829.

One of the needle beds or each of them will have an adjustable stitch cam whereby the knock-over points of the cams in the two beds canbe brought into or out from coincidence. In the example illustrated in Figures 1 to the dial cam box is intended to be provided with an' adjustable stitch cam 31 and the cylinder is turnished with an' adjustable stitch cam element 28 which is angularly adjustable about the axis of the, machine, that is to say, circumteren'tially with respect to the cylinder ,cam box. The cylinder camsystem at each feed will comprise the usual latch opening cams 29, the adjustable stitch cam element 28 together with its associated lower cam 38. The stitch cam as a whole is not necessarily adjustable circumierentially and in the form shown in Figure 1 the cam is in two parts. first portion of their downward mcvement is fixed as at 3| and the part 28 serves to complete the downward movement and terminates at the knock-over point 32.

The lower portion of the cam 28 is formed with external rack teeth I33 which mesh with a pinion 33. The latter is carried on a spindle 34 to the upper end' of which is secured an arm 35 which projects beyond the cam box into the path of an adjustable abutment 38. Another arm 4| freely mounted also on the spindle 34 is connected by a link 38 with the outer end of an arm 38 which is mounted to rotate on a That which acts upon the needles for the dle 43 fixed in a bracket 44 secured to the cam 5 box. a

' Depending from the lever 4| is a rod 45 having at its lower end a cam face 48 which, when the link 38 is swung to the left of Figure 4, will engage a cooperating cam race 41 provided on' a swinging catch 48 pivotally mounted on the stud 49. 'The catch has a slot 50 to engagev with a rod 5| extending radially from the pinion 33 to hold the latter in the position of adjustment shown in Figures 3 and 4 against the tension of a spring 52 which is anchored at one end to the arm 35 and at the other end to a fixed pin 53. The catch 48 is normally pulled upwardly into engagement with the rod 5| .by means of a tension spring 54 anchored at one end to the catch and at the other end to a fixed pin 55.

To the dial stitch cam 31 is pivotally connected one end of a link 58, the other end of which is itself pivotally connected at 51 to an arm 58.

The latter is secured to a pivot 59 to turn about the axis of this pivot and the latter is gearconnected at 80, 8| to a second arm 82 pivoted on a pin 83 to which the gear 8| is secured. Thus by engagement of the arm 58 or the arm 3 82 with an abutment similar to 38 but not illustrated, the arm 58 can be rocked in either one direction or the other about the spindle 58 and by means of the link 58 will move the dial stitch cam 31 to one or the other extreme positions illustrated in dotted lines in Figure 3.

With the apparatus so far described, a imitting operation can be carried out as follows:

Let it be assumed that knitting has commenced with a plain 1 "x -1 rib. For this purpose the needles in the cylinder and dial will be arranged to take the yarn alternately and during this rib knitting the trick wheel 28 will be arranged to present a bit 21 similar to that on the left of the wheel shown in Figure 2. Thus all the cylinder needles will be raised successively and all the dial needles will be similarly projected by means of a fixed clearing cam 84. The step by step actuating mechanism for the trick wheel 28 will conveniently be blufl'ed out of action, during this plain rib knitting, and movement of the wheel will be thus arrested. Thus, while 1 x 1 rib knitting is in progress the same bit 21 will be operative all the time.

During this form of knitting the cylinder stitch cam element 28 will have been adjusted to the position in which it is shown in Figure l in which position its knock-over point 32 is out of coincidence with the knock-over point 85 of the dial stitch cam. This adjustment will have been ef- 6O fected by moving the abutment 38 to a position to engage the arm 35 to swing the latter towards the left in Figures 3 and 4. The result of this is to shift the cam element 28 to the left in Figure 6 due to the engagement of the spur wheel 33 with the rack on the cam element and -the movement of the latter is from the position illustrated 'in Figure 6 to that shown in Figure 1.

When the knock-over points of the cylinder and dial stitch cams are thus brought out of coincidence, the cylinder needles will be caused to descend their combined stitch cam 3|, 28, in advance of the retraction of the dial needles, because the knock-over point 32 of the cylinder ure 1.

amass:

stitch cam is now moved to the right (in Figure 3) of the line 66 which represents the line of coincidence of the two knock-over points when the parts are in the position of Figure 6. Consequently the cylinder needles will draw yarn over the dial needles while the latter still remain projet .ed and the subsequent retraction of the dial needles will cause the latter to draw their loops from the yarn already drawn by the cylinder needles. The result will be a relatively tightly knitted l x 1 plain rib fabric.

When suificient plain rib knitting has been made the pattern wheel 26 will be put into operation so that on each pass of the yarn, selected cylinder needles only will be raised to take the yarn. At the same time the cam element 23 will have been moved back to the position illustrated in Figure 6 to bring its knock-over point into coincidence with that of the dial stitch cam 65. In other words, the two knock-over points will lie on the line 66 of Figure 3. This is brought about by adjusting the abutment 38 into the path of the arm 36 so that the latter is now turned in a clockwise direction as seen in Figure 3. This is effected by reason of the fact that relative rotation of the arm 36 (about the axis of the machine) with reference to the abutment 36 is in the direction of the arrow in Figure 3. By thus swinging the arm 36 about its pivot 40 the link 39 forces the cam surface 46 of the member 45 into engagement with the cam surface 41 and thus swings the catch 48 downwardly about-its pivot 49. This releases the rod 5| whereupon the spring 52 pulls on the arm 35 and rotates the spindle 34 in an anti-clockwise. direction as viewed in Figure 3.

Patterned rib fabric can now be knitted with the aid of the trick wheel 26 and during this portion of the operation-all the dial needles will be successively projected to take yarn. The selective action on the cylinder needles, however, may be utilized to produce any preferred form of patterning by the formation of tuck or miss stitch efl'ects according. to the height to which the cylinder needles are normally adjusted without assistance from the trick wheel 26. As the knockover points of the two stitch cams are now in coincidence, each dial needle when it is retracted will be moved substantially simultaneously with an adjacent cylinder needle if such needle is in operation. Consequently, each dial needle and each active cylinder needle will operate to draw its own loop of yarn freely from the yarn supply with the consequence that the fabric which is now knitted will not only be patterned but will be of a looser character.

If desired, the cylinder may be provided with an adjustable clearing cam 69 pivotally mounted at I0, and this clearing cam may replace the action of the pattern wheel during plain rib knitting and will serve to elevate all the cylinder needles while the wheel 26 remains idle. When patterned rib fabric is to be knitted, however,

the cam 69-will be automatically lowered to an inoperative position shown in chain-lines in Fig- The mechanism for actuating the cam 69 is as follows:

Mounted externally of the cam box. on the spindle I6 is an arm II and co-operating with the outer end of this arm is a wedge surface 12 I provided at the end of a swinging arm 13. The

latter is pivotally mounted on a stud 14 received in a bracket I5 projecting from the cam box and the arm I3 can be rocked about its pivot by engagement with an abutment such as 36.

Thus, when it is desired to raise the cam 69 into the full line position of Figure 1 the abutment 38 is adjusted to engage the arm I3 so as to swing it inwardly and to bring its wedge surface I2 beneath the arm I I, thereby turning the latter in a clockwise direction in Figures 4 and 5. The efiect of this is to turn the spindle I6 to raise the cam 69 and it is retained in this raised position by means of a catch rod I6 passing through the cam box and operated from the rocking arm 42 by a rigid connection I42. A spring I43 anchored at one end at I44 presses with its other end against the part I42 so as normally to tend to press the catch rod I6 inwardly. The inner end of the latter has a bevelled face I16 which permits the cam 69, when it is raised, to snap past the end of rod I6 and in doing so to press the latter inwardly against the pressure of spring I 43. When the cam 69 has reached the full-line position in Figure 1 spring I43 returns rod I16 to pass a recessed portion of the latter beneath cam 69 as clearly shown in Figure 1, whereby the cam is' held in its raised position. When it is again desired to lower the cam 69, at a time when patterned fabric is to be made, the abutment 36 will be moved into engagement with the arm 42, thereby to draw the catch rod I6 out from engagement with the cam 69, whereupon a pull-over spring 11, anchored at one end to a pin I6 projecting from the boss of the arm II and at the other end to a fixed pin I9, will return the arm 'II and spindle 10 in an anti-clockwise direction.

When an adjustable dial stitch cam is provided as in Figure 3, the movements of the cams 31 and 28 can be individually of a less degree than when only an adjustable cam 26 in the cylinder cam box is provided. Nevertheless, the same degree of separation between the two cams can be' thus obtained and in some instances it may be preferable to provide for an adjustable stitch cam in both cam boxes.

In Figures 6 and 7 a machine has been illus-. trated to which reference numerals similar to those employed hereinbefore represent similar parts; but in this case only the stitch cam ele ment 28 is adjustable, there is intended to be no adjustable stitch cam for the dial needles nor is there an adjustable clearing cam such as 69.

While this results in a simple construction of by producing either a plain rib fabric as above described or a patterned rib fabric.

The mechanism for rendering the dial needles operative or inoperative at will maybe of any well known form and as of itself it constitutes no part of the present invention and is in accordance with known common practice it is thought that no illustration of this feature is necessary.

tive position may be thrown into operation there- I While in the foregoing the patterning effect 7' of the wheel 26 has been described as employed for the production of tuck or miss stitch effects it is quite obvious that the cam I9 may be utilized to lift selected needles for other patterning purposes as, for instance, for taking a plating thread.

, be produced with the aid of jacquard mechanism in place of the pattern wheel described. Furthermore, any other preferred patterning means may be employed without departing from the invention.

The invention also includes knitted fabric having the characteristics of the formations above described.

I claim:

1. A rib knitting machine comprising in com- I bination two needle beds each with a set of needles therein, patterning means for knitting patterned rib fabric, and an adjustable knitting cam element comprising a knock-over portion co-operating with at least one set of needles, which cam element is adjustable in a direction transverse to the lengths of the needles whereby the knock-over points of the knitting cams -for the two sets of needles can be moved into and out from coincidence for the purpose described.

2. A rib knitting machine comprising in combination two needle beds each with a set of needles therein, patterning means for knitting patterned rib fabric, and adjustable knitting cam elements comprising knock-over portions co-operatingwith the two sets of needles, which cam elements are adjustable in directions transverse to the lengths of the needles whereby the knockover points of the knitting cams for the two sets of needles can be moved into and out from coincidence for the purp se described.

3. A rib knitting machine comprising in combination two needle beds each with a set of needles therein, patterning means for knitting patterned rib fabric, an adjustable knitting cam element comprising a knock-over portion co-opcrating with at least one set of needles, which cam element is adjustable in a direction transverse to the lengths of the needles, a pattern controlled automatically actuating means for'adjusting said cam element whereby the knockover points of the knitting cams for the two sets of needles can be moved into and out from coincidence, for the purpose described. 1

4. A rib knitting machine comprising in combination two needle beds each with a set of needles therein, patterning means for knitting knock-over points of the knitting cams for the two sets of needles can be moved into and out from coincidence for the purpose described, and an adjustable clearing cam for at least one of the needle beds.

5. A circular rib knitting machine comprising two needle beds each with a set of needles therein, patterning means for knitting patterned rib fabric, and an adjustable knitting cam element comprising a knock-over portion co-operating 10 with at least one set of needles, which cam element is circumferentially adjustable in the machine whereby the knock-over points of the knitting cams for the two sets of needles can be moved into and out from coincidence .for the 15 purpose described.

6. A circular rib knitting machine comprising two needle beds each with a set of needles therein, patterning means for knitting patterned rib fabric, adjustable knitting cam elements com- 20 prising knock-over points co-operating with both sets of needles, which cam elements are each circumferentially adjustable in the machine whereby the knock-over points of the knitting cams for the two sets of needles can be moved 25 into and out from coincidence for the purpose described.

7. A circular rib knitting machine comprising in combination two needle beds each with a set a of needles therein, patterning means for knitting '30 patterned rib fabric, and adjustable knitting cam element comprising a knock-over point co-operating with at least one set of needles, which cam element is circumierentlally adjustable in the machine, and pattern controlled automatically 35 actuating means for adjusting said cam element whereby the knock-over points of the knitting cams for the two sets of needles can be moved into and out from coincidence for the purpose described. 40

8. A circular rib knitting machine comprising two needle beds each with a set of needles therein, patterning means for knitting patterned rib fabric, an adjustable knitting cam element comprising a knock-over portion co-operating with at 45 least one set of needles, which cam element is circumferentially adjustable in the machine whereby the knock-over points of the knitting cams for the two sets of needles can be moved into and out from coincidence for the purpose described, and an adjustable clearing cam for at least one of the needle beds.

HENRY HAROLD HOLMES. 

